Best Western International (BWI), which marks its 10th anniversary in the Asia-Pacific region, is determined to change market perception about it being merely a “motel” product.
Founded in the US in 1946 by California-based hotelier M K Guertin, the company began as an informal referral system among member hotels, then went global in 1964 when Canadian hotel owners joined the group and further expanded in 1976 entering Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. BWI established its Asia head office in 2001 in Bangkok, initially launching six hotels.
According to Glenn de Souza, company vice-president international operations – Asia & the Middle East, BWI introduced earlier this year the “Descriptor Strategy”, offering three-tier brands to suit different types of travellers. Now available are the value-for-money mid-scale Best Western, the upscale Best Western Plus and the luxury Best Western Premier. The in-house Bhuvana Spa has also received differentiation to match each product: Bhuvana Lite (Best Western), Bhuvana My Spa (Plus) and Bhuvana Spa Luxe (Premier).
De Souza told Business Traveller during the travel industry show, ITB Asia, held in Singapore last week, that BWI hotels in Asia and the Middle East tended to have a larger guestroom inventory compared to their European or US counterparts, which usually had around 75 guestrooms. Those in his region range from between 150 to 200 guestrooms, a setup that provides owners better returns. The Best Western hotel in Dhakka's Cox Bazaar features 1,000 rooms.
Confident of the hardware that made up this new generation of Best Western properties – especially at the Premier level – De Souza said they were now trying to improve service delivery particularly the "guest feedback mechanism". He added: "We need to get our general managers back out in the open and interacting with customers."
By the end of 2010, there were about 170 Best Westerns in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. In 2012, De Souza hopes to raise this figure to between 200 and 300 by 2015.
For more about BWI, visit www.bestwestern.com
Margie T Logarta
